Radical architecture and new art in Austria’s second city
The Kunsthaus has been called a baby hippo, sea slug, porcupine, a whale and a “friendly alien” — this last name was coined by its architects, Sir Peter Cook and Colin Fournier. The biomorphic structure was built when Graz was named European Capital of Culture in 2003 and incorporates elements of a mid-19th-century department store. This original building’s listed facade and cast-iron structure on the upper story were preserved. The blue shimmering “bubble” of the new building floats above the glazed ground floor. Conceived as a multi-disciplinary venue for exhibitions, projects and performing arts, the Kunsthaus Graz, which does not have a collection of its own, shows modern and contemporary art, collaborates with institutional partners worldwide and connects with local initiatives and institutions.
Read Less